Nato ThompsonChief Curator at Creative TimeBorn 1972 Photo by Derek SchultzInspirational Quote: "I’m interested in how we’re learning to see differently. By that, I mean the lessons of institutional critique are increasingly becoming a part of the way we see the world. For example, if you see a protest poster for Occupy Wall Street in the window of Urban Outfitters, you see it very differently than the way you see it at a community space. We are becoming increasingly aware that context is really important."

-Nato Thompson in interview with Daniel Kunitz Source:Daniel Kunitz. Blouinartinfo.com. Seeing Power: A Q&A with Nato Thompson. Last accessed 3/12/14. http://www.blouinartinfo.com/modern-painters-magazine/article/760368-seeing-power-a-qa-with-nato-thompsonSelected ExhibitionsTitle: Experimental Geography Location: Premiered at Richard E. Peeler Art Center, DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana (Traveling exhibition) Date: September 19, 2008 - December 2, 2008 (Travelled through 2011) Featured Artists: Francis Alÿs, AREA Chicago, The Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), e-Xplo, Ilana Halperin, kanarinka (Catherine D’Ignazio), Julia Meltzer, David Thorne, Multiplicity, Trevor Paglen, Raqs Media Collective, Ellen Rothenberg, Spurse, Deborah Stratman, Daniel Tucker, Alex Villar, Yin Xiuzhen, Lize Mogel Exhibit Abstract: Using a high caliber set of artists from a variety of disciplines such as video, sculpture and photography, in tandem with physical representations of projects by the Center for Land Use Interpretation, and the Center for Urban Pedagogy, Thompson cleverly pulls together the poetic and the didactic, creating a rich survey of how we as people interact with the landscapes we inhabit. This mix of disciplines allows the viewer opportunity to investigate the presented ideas through a lens that provides a wider spectrum of knowledge than would otherwise be available should he have chosen to exhibit solely artworks or scientific research. By stretching both sides of our brains, Thompson’s model provides us the opportunity to critically analyze a subject whose accessibility could be polarized for some due to the advanced nature of its content. Sources: Thompson, Nato. Experimental Geography. Brooklyn, New York: Melville House, 2008.http://curatorsintl.org/exhibitions/experimental_geography Curator Quote: “I am a believer in the impact of cultural production. I have never been a fan of the myopia by which most contemporary art is understood as a specific discourse tucked inside the much larger cultural fields. Let's bring in the whole bag of cultural production since the production of information in all its forms is not only a major form of capital, but also a primary manner in which we understand the world. "Experimental Geography" is an opportunity to test out some ideas of a truly inter-disciplinary practice that produces new rules and expectations. As much as it can be interpreted from the lens of contemporary art, it benefits from the lens of multiple other disciplines as well. It is a beginning effort in trying to imagine what an institution that studies the world in a variety of forms and that embraces ambiguity and didacticism might look like. It is too reductive to say a neo-wunderkammen, but it gets closer to the point. It is an effort to imagine new forms of thinking after the collapse of the rigid walls of the enlightenment.” - Nato Thompson, from interview with Lauren Cornell in 2008 Source: http://rhizome.org/editorial/2008/feb/27/interview-with-nato-thompson/

Title: Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: A play in two acts, a project in three parts Location: New Orleans Date: 2007 Featured Artists: Paul Chan Exhibit Abstract: Working with the leaders of communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, a multifaceted project ensued that would be comprised of a performance series, workshops, and poster campaign. The development of a “Shadow Fund” is explained in the book Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: A Field Guide that would assist those attempting to regain their humanity in the disaster ravaged region. This gesture gave a measure of sustainability to the project and proved the commitment of those involved in the project; that they were not interested in parachuting in to the region to complete an art gig and leave, but truly concerned for the individuals the project culminated around. Curator Quote: “After nearly twenty meetings, the three of us were exhausted and excited; our minds reverberated from the many heartbreaking stories we had heard. Paul was evidently concerned about the gravity about what he wanted us to accomplish. “We have to leave something,” he said. Out of this sense that a rise in media visibility would not be enough, he concocted the idea of the Shadow Fund. We would raise monet for local groups that would put much-needed materials into their hands. If Common Ground needed sheet rock, for example, the Shadow Fund would supply it. If an educational effort needed textbooks, the Shadow Fund would supply them. We would attempt to match the production budget, dollar for dollar. Anne agreed this was a moral imperative. “In order to do this project right,” Paul said, “we need to do the time and spend the dime.” - Nato Thompson from his essay Destroyer of Worlds in Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: A Field Guide Sources: Chan, Paul Ed. Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: A Field Guide. New York, NY: Creative Times, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/arts/design/02cott.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Title: Becoming Animal Location: MASS MoCA Date: May 29, 2005 – February 2006 Featured Artists: Mark Dion, Natalie Jeremijenko and Phil Taylor, Jane Alexander, Rachel Berwick, Brian Conley, Sam Easterson, Kathy High, Nicolas Lampert, Michael Oatman, Motohiko Odani, Patricia Piccinini, and Ann-Sofi Sidén Exhibit Abstract: We as humans have affiliated with the animal kingdom in a myriad of ways throughout civilization, though in general holding humanity in higher status to the beasts we share the planet with. This exhibit examines the fractured nature of how we affiliate ourselves with the natural world. Through a fusion of art and science, Thompson’s choice of beast-minded artists allows a poetic discourse on topics ranging from hot scientific themes such as transgenics to more socially based inquiries relating how contemporary culture perceives the connotations of being animal. Paying homage to likeminded art practitioners like Joseph Bueys, Thompson looks to dig deeper and reflect on connections between man and animal, successfully breaking down barriers of ignorance misinformation to shine a light on the interconnected system that makes up our planet at large. Sources: Thompson, Nato ed. Becoming Animal: Contemorary Art in the Animal Kingdom. North Adams, MA: Mass MOCA Publications, 2005.http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=310Title: The Interventionists: Art in the Social Sphere Location: MASS MoCA Date: May 2004 – March 2005 Featured Artists: e-Xplo, Haha, N55, Lucy Orta, William Pope.L, Michael Rakowitz , Ruban Ortiz Torres, Dre Wapenaar, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Craig Baldwin's Billboard Outlaws, Biotic Baking Brigade, God Bless Graffiti Coalition, the Institute for Applied Autonomy, Oliver Ressler and Dario Azzellini, Reverend Billy, StreetRec, Valerie Tevere, Alex Villar, The Yes Men, YOMANGO, 16 Beaver, Critical Art Ensemble with Beatriz de Costa, Tana Hargest, J. Morgan Puett, Spurse, subRosa, and The Atlas Group Exhibit Abstract: Thompson has created a broad survey of activist minded artists spanning work from the late 1980 to 2004. Thompson selected work that reflects not only the diversity of the issues the current generation has to face, but also the creative methods artists around the world using are confronting them. He makes clear in his catalogue essay that these individuals do not share consensus on the solutions to the ails of our world, nor is this a political movement. This exhibit is simply reveals the voices that are speaking out in a world that is boxing itself in though corporate consolidation and digital isolation. The Interventionists shines a light on new ways the creative class has adapted to fight the system and stand up for the collective good of the people. Sources: Thompson, Nato and Gregory Sholette eds. The Interventionists: Users’ Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004.http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=38

Biographical Information: Thompson received a BA in Political Theory from the University of California at Berkeley and an MA in Arts Administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nato-thompsonEmployment:2001-2004, Assistant Curator MASS MoCA 2005-2007, Curator at MASS MOCA 2007 – present, Creative Time Chief Curator Pew Center for the Arts & Heritage: Panelist (2008), Evaluator (2010), Contributor to Pideons in the Grass, Alas series contributor (2012) Publication list: BookForum, Frieze, Art Journal, Art Forum, tema celeste, Parkett, Cabinet, The Nation and The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest 2009-Present, Organizer of the Annual Creative Time Summit Sources: http://fnewsmagazine.com/2006-dec/curating-activist-art-at-mass-moca.phphttp://www.sfai.edu/event/nato-thompsonhttp://www.pcah.us/people/nato_thompson http://creativetime.org/summit/overview/ http://creativetime.org/about/staff/nato-thompson/Further reading: Nato Thompson in Conversation with the Baltimore Development Cooperative:http://www.baltimoredevelopmentco-op.org/index.php?/texts/interview-with-nato-thompson/Blog:http://natothompson.wordpress.com/Huffington Post Selected Blog Post Listings:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nato-thompsonPrint: Thompson, Nato and Gregory Sholette eds. The Interventionists: Users’ Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004, p. 13-22. Thompson, Nato. Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art from 1991-2011. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2012, p. 18-33. Thompson, Nato ed. Becoming Animal: Contemorary Art in the Animal Kingdom. North Adams, MA: Mass MOCA Publications, 2005, p. 8-16. Chan, Paul Ed. Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: A Field Guide. New York, NY: Creative Times, 2010, p. 38-49.Coming soon: Thompson, Nato. Seeing Power: Socially Engaged Art in the Age of Cultural Production. Melville House, 2014.Major Contributions to the field of Curatorial Practice:Nato Thompson is a change maker. His practice has morphed from a more traditional museum curatorship to one working in the public’s domain. By working with artists that tackle environmental impacts, both man-made and natural, on our society, he has kept the conversation of social change moving in a fresh and inquisitive manner. This work has led to his break from the walls of the institution of the museum, and out into the public with his work with Creative Time. He represents the potential of a curator in today’s world, acting as organizer of not only the Creative Time Summit but a series of multifaceted social projects whose impact has measurable sustainability in their outcomes. The connections and interactions he has developed with the international base of artists and organizations he works with is proof to his commitment of engaging the public through his involved and innovative work in the arts.

WHAT ARE CURATOR CARDS?

These Curator Cards began in Maryland Institute College of Art's inaugural Curatorial Practice MFA as a project for Interdisciplinary Approaches to Curatorial Practice (IACP) taught by Marcus Civin. This class focuses on revealing the history of curatorial practice by analyzing influential curators and exhibitions. The curator cards continue...

Together, a mix of students choose curators that spark their interest and create Curator Cards based on their research.

Please note that all of this information is strictly for educational purposes. If there are any additions, comments or concerns please contact us.